In this episode of 'Behind the Headlines' - broadcast Sunday 29 November 2015 - Sott.net editors Joe Quinn and Niall Bradley analysed the extraordinary shoot-down of a Russian Su-24 bomber in Syria by a Turkish F-16. Everyone is noting how 'stupid' the Erdgoan government is for sanctioning such an act, especially given the negative Russian reaction. But a closer look indicates that Erdogan either had no choice but to go along with the pre-planned provocation, or he was simply informed of it after the fact.

Joe and Niall go behind the headlines to identify the real orchestrators of the attack on Russia, and what this critical border incident means in the context of 'the Great Game' playing out across Eurasia.

Running Time: 01:57:00

Download: MP3


Articles by Joe Quinn on this subject:

• Russia versus NATO's Gladio 2.0: Turkish jihad from China to Syria

• Always the last to know: Did Turkish government find out about shoot-down of Russian jet after the fact?

• NATO Orders Stool-Pigeon Turkey to Shoot Down Russian Jet

Russian journalists preparing an investigative report into Ankara's alleged involvement in the oil trade with ISIS have been detained and deported from Turkey. Moscow strongly condemned the treatment of the Rossiya 1 TV crew, demanding explanations.

"We strongly condemn the illegal actions of the Turkish authorities," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "Such an attitude towards the media is absolutely unacceptable."

On Monday, the press crew of the TV program Special Correspondent, headed by Alexander Buzaladze, were detained in southeastern Turkey by authorities in civilian clothes. The journalists were preparing an investigative report into the alleged smuggling of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) oil into Turkey.

The trouble for the Rossiya 1 TV crew started only once they arrived at the border, Buzaladze said after the deportation. He told Russian state-owned channel Vesti that while the crew worked in Istanbul and Ankara they had faced no opposition from the authorities.

But as soon as they and tried to film close to the Turkish-Syrian border the crew was "blocked [by] the Turkish security forces" leaving them no time to even "get the camera out."

In true Orwellian doublespeak fashion, President Obama delivered a speech to the American people on Sunday night waging war on multiple fronts in the aftermath of the tragic San Bernardino shooting last Wednesday at a holiday party for county health workers that left fourteen dead and more than twice that number wounded. After taking undeserved credit for all his fake efforts at fighting ISIS, Obama then once again opportunistically rammed his gun control bandwagon down our throats to exploit America's most deadly killing spree since Sandy Hook as a brazen ploy to finally gain some antigun momentum.

Obama's surface message focused on his OCD need for gun control, vowing to protect America from domestic terrorists by legislating gun control laws to remove them from "bad" Americans committed to killing good Americans. It's worth noting that two family attorneys of the alleged terrorist couple seriously believe that the two suspects could have been framed and used as patsies in yet another false flag. US state sponsored false flag terrorism has been evident in numerous previous staged events like Charleston, Chattanooga, Boston, and Sandy Hook, Obama's true intent based on his plain-to-see covert actions is to wage war against law-abiding US citizens who believe in the Constitution and Second Amendment right to own guns as well as wage global war against rivals Russia and China in order to maintain US Empire hegemony at all cost. Yet on Obama's watch he helped militarize law enforcement to rampantly abuse its own citizens to squash the Occupy movement and First Amendment rights and murder unarmed Americans in unprecedented numbers 70 times that of the next Western nation. And while Obama says he's still "hunting down" the terrorists, in fact he is expending more efforts hunting down decent Americans than the brutal terrorists he is still secretly supporting.


Referring to the husband and wife shooters in San Bernardino, Obama stated:

Under cover of darkness, an Israeli armoured car advances down the potholed road that leads to Syria. As it crests a small hill, the driver picks up the radio handset and tells his commanding officer that the border is in sight. He kills the engine. Ten heavily-armed commandos jump out and take cover, watching for signs of ambush. Then five of them move up to the 12ft chainlink fence that marks the limit of Israeli-held territory. On the other side, on the very edge of Syria, lies an unconscious man wrapped like a doll in a blood-drenched duvet. The commandos unlock the fence, open a section of it and drag him onto Israeli soil.

The casualty - who doesn't look older than 20 - is losing blood fast. He has been shot in the intestines and the liver, and has a deep laceration in his left ankle. After putting him on an emergency drip, the commandos stretcher him back to the armoured car and head back to Israel. But this wounded man is not an Israeli soldier, or even an Israeli citizen. He is an Islamic militant. And his rescue forms part of an extraordinary humanitarian mission that is fraught with danger and has provoked deep controversy on all sides.

Our dear Nobel Peace prize winning president has asked congress for a new AUMF-- Authorization for Use of Military Force. WTF, the old one is getting old-- vintage 2001.

Before the chickenhawks and wimps who want to prove they are tough by voting for war-- those are the rare few who are not motivated by the military industrial complex lobbyists and donors-- cavalierly sign off on another war, they should be required to state out loud some of the following statistics.

For every soldier killed in action, two will commit suicide. So triple the projected death count, then add in the ones who die from injuries acquired on an off the battlefield, while in the military. Those deaths should count too.

Thirty percent of veterans seen at the VA have PTSD. It's estimated that as many as 35 percent of Iraq veterans will develop PTSD. One report found that "a large majority of Vietnam Veterans struggled with chronic PTSD symptoms, with four out of five reporting recent symptoms when interviewed 20-25 years after Vietnam." That's 80% suffering from PTSD symptoms.

Experts estimate that 30-35% of veterans come home with closed head trauma.

Almost half of vets were found to binge drink, 20% of them reported binge drinking every week for the past month, in one study.

A handful will go on to become war whores, as members of congress, totally selling themselves to the military industrial complex, becoming spokesmen for more and more war.

John McCain is one of the most despicable shameful examples. A tiny few will learn from their military experience and oppose war. It is sick that veterans are loyal to the army and the military and seek to send more innocent young, imbued with American exceptionalism driven patriotism to wars started on lies, where the real motives are profits and power.

Russia says it has for the first time struck targets of the Takfiri Daesh terrorists in Syria with "Calibre" cruise missiles fired from a submarine in the Mediterranean. Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu made the announcement on Tuesday during a televised meeting with President Vladimir Putin, RT reported.

The missiles "targeted two major terrorist positions in the territory of Raqqah. We can say with absolute confidence that significant damage has been inflicted upon ammunition warehouses and a mine production plant, as well as the oil infrastructure," Shoygu said.

According to the defense minister, the missiles were fired from the Kilo-class diesel-electric Rostov-on-Don (B-237) submarine. The 52-crew sub, believed to be one of the quietest in the world, can remain undetected under the water for long periods of time. It weighs 4,000 tons and can dive to a depth of 300 meters (985 feet). NATO has nicknamed it "Blackhole".

Shoygu also said that in the past three days, the Russian Air Force had conducted more than 300 sorties, pounding 600 "various" militant targets. "In the past three days, the operation involved Tu-22 planes as well as warplanes from the Khmeimim airbase," he stated, adding that all sorties were performed with the backing of Su-30 fighter jets.

Moscow launched its air raids against Daesh and other terrorist groups in Syria on September 30, upon a request from the Syrian government.

On Dec 7 the Cyber-Berkut made public another set of evidence exposing preparations for false flag attacks in Syria by the Ministry of Defense of Qatar. According to a hacked mail by Anton Pashynskyi, a SpetsTechnoExport (official Ukrainian arms trader) functionary, on Oct 21, 2015 he wrote to his Polish partner Level 11 the following:

Good afternoon! There is a new proposal. The Qatari military want to buy 2 thousand High Explosive Fragmentation bombs OFAB 250-270. The issue is urgent, they are ready to pay US$2100 per item. Consider how to deliver ASAP. The final recipient is the Ministry of Defense of Qatar. EUC is enclosed.

The guided missile cruiser The Vargyag, currently taking part in the joint Russian-Indian naval exercise Indra, will be dispatched to Syria, a source in the Russian contingent taking part in the exercise has told TASS in an interview.

"The guided missile cruiser The Varyag will leave India for Syria, where it will replace the guided missile cruiser The Moskva (project 1164 Atlant)," he said, adding that The Varyag's mission in the area would presumably last till September.

The naval exercise Indra began on December 7. It is scheduled to last till December 12. At the moment the preparatory phase of the exercise is nearing completion. The active phase in the Bay of Bengal is due on December 10-12. Anti-submarine operations will be practiced. Also, the crews will polish skills of freeing a ship seized by hypothetical terrorists. Helicopters will deliver assault groups on board.

As part of Moscow's anti-terror campaign, Russian warplanes have carried out 300 sorties against targets in Syria over the last three days.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the air force is strictly implementing Supreme Command's order to carry out combat missions in Syria alongside fighter jets, according to RIA Novosti.

The Russian military has also, for the first time, launched cruise missiles against terrorist targets in Syria from a submarine in the Mediterranean.

A Russian Kilo-class submarine located in the Mediterranean Sea fired on Tuesday cruise missiles targeting Islamic State (Daesh in Arabic) positions in Syria, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday.

Shoigu added that the launch was carried out by the sub from a submerged position.

"We launched Kalibr cruise missiles from the Rostov-on-Don submarine in the Mediterranean Sea," Shoigu told President Putin.

Shoigu added that the launch was carried out by the sub from a submerged position.

Earlier in the day, Russian media outlets reported about a Russian submarine approaching the Syrian coast.

Russia has been conducting airstrikes against Daesh, outlawed in Russia, in Syria since September 30 upon the request of President Bashar Assad. Russian warships in the Caspian Sea also participated in the anti-terrorist campaign, having successfully fired cruise missiles on IS targets.